Unfortunately, for those looking to once again give HP a chance in the tablet game, the specs for the new Slate 7 are very underwhelming -- even for its relatively low starting price of $169.

The Slate 7 comes with a dual-core, 1.6GHz Cortex A9 ARM processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage space (expandable via microSD), and a 1024x600 display. Other lackluster specs include Bluetooth 2.1, a front-facing VGA camera, and a 3MP shooter on the back. The device runs a stock version of Android 4.1.

The Slate 7 does include Beats Audio onboard and HP's ePrint functionality, but that's likely not enough to sway consumers from competitive offerings like the Google Nexus 7.

"To address the growing interest in tablets among consumers and businesses alike, HP will offer a range of form factors and leverage an array of operating systems," said Alberto Torres, senior vice president, Mobility Global Business Unit, HP. "Our new HP Slate on Android represents a compelling entry point for consumer tablets."

A year or so back, you could not get Envy with decent IPS screen in New Zealand; Their beautiful slim MBP-like units were coming with mediocre 1366*768 TN panels, horrible viewing angles, limited gamma. There were no options to custom configure them either.

Even their Envy Spectre XT comes only with crappy panels, here in NZ. And that for NZ$2,000.00 on http://www.hpshopping.co.nz. Same as HP ENVY 6 - 15.6" "premium" laptop with 1366*768 TN panel. As a comparison, 13" MBA starts from NZ$1,800.00 while Retina 13" MBP is NZ$2,200.00

Where is logic in that? Device that looks good only while turned off, but performs poorly (for intended purpose), with price on high end of Windows laptop market, that should compete with, say, Asus Zenbook which for comparable price comes with 1080 IPS panel, better battery life, equal build quality.

Their site works fine for me. Not sure how anything they make is "shiny poop". Their prices are competitive and their configuration options are almost second to none now among big players. They're like Dell USED to have and now only has (at best) with their Alienware systems.